The Haunting
by FFP
Summary: An ancient mansion, in an impenetrable forest, where a team of ghost hunters disappears. Trouble starts, as Spirits and pontential brutal murders may draw the Quests deeper into this mystery. Will Jonny & Jessie get into the middle of this mayhem? read on
1. The Mansion

**Disclaimer: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and all of its characters are copyrighted by Hanna Barbara. I do not own any of the characters from this show**

**The chapter starts off somewhat slowly, but it picks up its pace towards the end. More to come...**

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><p><strong>The First Victims <strong>

Dark, ominous clouds covered the sky, blocking out any semblance of moon light. You find yourself miles away from the nearest paved road, deep inside a thick, impenetrable forest. If you dare travel through the thick woods, you may discover an ancient path, almost entirely concealed under plant growth and a layer of snow. The path appears to have been disused for decades, apart from one set of tire tracks, which ran through the snow.

Tree branches reach down along the path, almost like arms, ready to grab any soul unfortunate enough to wander past them and tear their victim to pieces. The trees stood as they had for centuries, undisturbed by either man or animal life, except for a few, which had curious red marks littered along their trunks.

Apart from the trees, there is no sign of any living creature for miles, except for the tire tracks. They ran through the thick undergrowth, leaving small hints of destruction along the path. Here and there, small marks of red paint and bits of shattered glass lay, embedded into the tree trunks. It was obvious that whoever came through the woods had no idea how to navigate through it.

The path leads unfortunate victims deeper through the woods, which thicken around the ancient road almost to the point of suffocating anyone going along it, until finally, you come up to a clearing.

As you reach the clearing, you're in for one hell of a surprise. Right in the middle of nowhere, where everything appears to be dead, stands an imposing structure, almost invisible due to the lack of light. As you move closer to the structure however, the identity of the building becomes a bit more apparent.

The building appeared to have been a grand mansion of some sort. Its glory days however, are far behind it. In better times, the building had served as a glorious French Colonial style mansion, to a group of traders who had settled there. Those days unfortunately, were long gone. The white paint, which had once enveloped the building, adding to its grandeur, has mostly peeled off the side of the building in large chunks, causing the structure to resemble a dark serpent, shedding its skin.

The positioning of the windows, which surely must have kept the house well lit in the past, now practically gave the house a face, if viewed from a distance. Strange as it may seem, the once proud mansion, which dominated its surrounding, now appears to be watching over the very same forest with an air of malice and an expression of evil.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that most of the windows are either covered in decades of dust, making seeing through them impossible, or are boarded up, preventing curious creatures from entering this lair of evil and saving them from a terrible fate.

Behind the structure lies an old hedge maze. The maze must have been quite a sight to behold in days gone by. Due to over a century of neglect, it is now completely overgrown and virtually impassible. The extreme size and unkempt nature of the hedges created a maze which even the Minotaur would think twice before entering.

Right between the maze and the mansion however, was a sign of intrusion in this clearing, which possibly resembled a demon's idea of a playground. This sign was a pair of large, red SUVs. The SUVs themselves had an interesting appearance. Both of them were heavily dented and covered in scratches – obviously these had been the vehicles which had just traveled along the path. One of them lay empty, while the other had a strange light emanating from inside it.

Suddenly, a voice barely audible due to static rang out from inside the vehicle; "Rich, this is Paul. Need to talk, over". Rich sat in the back of the SUV, however, from the inside, this vehicle looked more like a military command centre than a normal vehicle. 6 small screens were stationed on one side of the vehicle, while the other side was covered with what appeared to be expensive sound equipment. In between all this equipment sat a tall, yet frail young man, with shoulder length hair. He reclined in his chair, holding a flask of hot coffee in his left hand. He didn't appear to be paying any attention to his surroundings.

"God dammit Rich, if you don't respond, I'll come out there and beat you with your own f***ing coffee mug" the voice said. It appeared to be coming from a walkie talkie, which lay buried under a stack of comic books. Rich groaned. Clearly physical work was something he didn't do often. However, he slowly got himself off the chair, picked up the stack and answered the walkie talkie.

"Hey Paul, what's up?" he said, feigning interest.

Paul meanwhile, uttered out a cacophony of insults, hurled towards Rich, implying various things, including many crude references involving Rich and his mother. Rich didn't seem bothered. Clearly he was used to this.

"Come on Paul, just cut to the chase" he said, seating himself back down on the chair and propping open a comic in front of his face.

You could hear Paul take a deep breath through the walkie talkie, before he finally uttered words which froze Rich's blood. "Amy's gone missing" he said slowly.

The comic slid down Rich's face. "What do you mean missing?" he asked, now holding the walkie talkie in a vice grip. "You're all in the same f***ing house!" he shouted into the small machine in his hand. Paul said something in return, but Rich wasn't listening anymore. He turned towards the screens and frantically searched every single angle on display on the computer screens. All he saw a small group of 4 people standing on top of the main staircase. 5 people had gone in there just a few hours ago. He looked onto another screen, which gave a list of all the 5 in the house and displayed their vital signs. The team had taken care to attach sensors to each member before they went in. This was obviously a well-funded operation. 3 of the names, Danny, Joe and Liz showed a high pulse rate, while Paul seemed to be somewhat calmer, despite his apparent shock at Amy's disappearance. Amy's vital signs however, were not displayed at all. Next to her name, the screen simply showed a small message, which said "individual system failure".

Rich stared at the screens for a few more seconds, before getting back to the walkie talkie. "I can't find a trace of her anywhere" he said worriedly. He seemed to barely be able to speak.

Rich cast a forlorn look towards the house. There were a number of cables running from the SUVs to the house, no doubt used for the cameras and sound equipment located inside. The cables ran through an open back door, to various parts of the house. One particular cable ran through various back rooms, intricately zigzagging around the inside, until it reached a hall, containing an ancient grand staircase. The hall was very dimly lit and would have been completely dark, were it not for a light emanating from the top of the stair case.

If you dare follow the light, up the staircase, you'll find that leads straight to a man, standing at the top of the staircase, carrying an obviously expensive camera. With him, there were 3 others. The camera man looked somewhat similar to Rich, except for the fact that he was better groomed and looked somewhat stronger physically. He stood, pointing the camera at different rooms and corners around the bottom of the staircase, using it like a vantage point.

Out of the remaining characters, one of them stood alert, with his legs apart. He held a walkie talkie in his left hand and stood silently, holding it up to his ear. This was probably Paul. Paul was not very tall, but had an impressive physique. He was wearing a pair of combat trousers, with a pistol holstered around his right leg, along with a thick jacket. Paul stood absolutely still. He had not yet responded to Rich. It's not that he didn't care enough about the situation. As an ex-military man, he cared deeply for all his teammates. He just needed to clear his head and think for a few seconds.

2 more team members stood between Paul and the cameraman. One of them stood, facing the staircase and leaning against the back wall. She looked physically fit and young and was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, covered with a jacket. She held her hands close to her face and blew air into them to keep them warm. It wasn't helping, but she just needed something to take her mind off the fact that her friend had disappeared. This was Liz. As Liz leaned back, she felt something poke her arm.

She felt a sudden and intense pain and could feel blood starting to drip out of a small cut on her arm – Liz gasped and jumped forwards, before swinging around and discovering the cause of her discomfort. A large portrait, in a dark, rotting wooden frame hung directly behind her. The wood had splintered and was now sticking out of the portrait and had been the cause of the cut. Liz looked at the others. Paul and the other team member didn't seem to have noticed, however, the cameraman had turned towards her and was now staring at her, with an expression showing ill-disguised fear and worry.

"Liz, are you alright?" he practically whimpered, lowering the camera. Sweat started escaping from his brow, as Liz straightened herself, before taking a step towards him.

Liz didn't want to worry anyone else. The team already had enough to worry about. Besides, it was probably a small cut. It shouldn't bother her too much. She looked towards the cameraman and faked a grin. "I'm fine, Joe" she said, in spite of the pain she now felt.

"You don't need to worry about me", she added, reassuringly.

Joe the cameraman looked somewhat relieved. He had been holding his breath for the past few seconds and finally breathed out. He caught a glimpse of the portrait behind Liz and turned on the camera's main light, illuminating the wall. The walls of the entire mansion appeared to be decorated with creepy portraits; however, this one took the cake. It was a portrait they had seen before, while surveying the house in the morning. It was fading, but you still make out the figures quite clearly. It showed the image of a large, stout man who looked immensely physically strong. He was dressed in an old fashioned black suit and was standing in what appeared to be one of the other rooms of the house. He had greying hair and many lines on his face, but still appeared to be reasonably young. He was scowling in the portrait and standing with his chest out, looking like the most pissed off military officer in the world.

This man would be scary enough to encounter on his own, but something else caught Joe's eye. Joe's blood froze, as he saw what it was. Behind the man was a large mirror and a door, which was just barely open and through the door, Joe could see what looked like a pair of blood red eyes staring at him. He took a step closer, before his thoughts were interrupted.

"That's one creepy son of a bitch, isn't" Liz said, looking at the portrait herself. Joe looked towards her for a second, before turning back. The eyes were gone. Joe was puzzled.

"Liz, did you see them too?" he exclaimed, startling Liz.

She appeared confused for a second. Joe started getting more excited. "Did you see the eyes in the door?" he asked, now panning the camera along the entire portrait.

Liz clearly had no idea what he was talking about. "Joe, what's wrong?" she asked, worriedly.

Joe couldn't find a trace of them anywhere. Had he imagined them? He thought to himself. Deciding he should just let it go, he turned away from the portrait. "I'm fine, Liz" he said unconvincingly, before turning back to the staircase. Liz stepped away from the portrait and stood next to him.

The last team member sat on the top step of the stair case. He was a tall, physically large man and seemed the least concerned of the group. He was absent mindedly staring at the ceiling, when suddenly, a light flashed right into his eyes. "Joe" he said menacingly, as he stood up and stared down at the cameraman. "turn that damn thing off right now" he said menacingly towards Joe. Before the man could reply however, Paul quickly butted in. He had formulated a plan and decided to regain some control before his team started tearing each other apart.

"Quit fighting and listen" he said, with an air of authority. Everyone inside turned to him. Outside, Rich listened in intently on his walkie talkie.

"We all need to stick together" Paul said, his voice getting quieter with each syllable. "We've already swept this floor and found nothing. Let's all stay in 1 team and investigate the entire house. We start in the basement" he said, waiting to see if there were any objections. There were none.

"And Rich" he quickly added before the group headed out, "No matter what happens, stay with the equipment. Keep an eye on all of us". With that, Paul put the walkie talkie into one of his many pant pockets and led the group down the staircase.

Paul led them through various small rooms. He was the only one who seemed to know where to go. As a former soldier, he had learned to map out areas where he was operating and had managed to memorise almost every room and corner when the team had taken a look at the house during daytime. They advanced swiftly, until they reached a small door in what appeared to be a lounge of some sort. Paul turned and looked to the others. "Turn the camera off" he barked at Joe. The man quickly complied, switching off the machine, disconnecting its cord and slinging it across his shoulder. The last thing they needed was Joe wandering around the basement, trying to get the perfect shot and impaling himself on something.

Once that was done, Paul gave the team another order. "Everyone, get your flashlights on" he said. The others immediately complied and gave him a thumbs up when they were ready. Paul them proceeded to take out his own flashlight and looked towards a camera placed in the corner of the room. When his team had arrived, they had placed cameras almost everywhere, to give Rich a view of the entire mansion. They had however, neglected to place anything in the basement, as none of them had been willing to go down there. Now however, it was different. One of their friends needed them and the team wasn't intending to let Amy down.

Joe took a quick look around the room. It looked familiar in a way, but he just couldn't remember when he had seen this room before. He hadn't been around this part of the house when they patrolled in the morning, but it looked somewhat familiar. He decided not to say anything however. No need to worry the others, he though.

After one last deep breath, they descended one by one into the basement. The light from their torches travelled through the damp, dark basement, hitting a wall a hundred feet ahead. There were several small openings around the basement, which appeared to lead to other tunnels and rooms.

Rich's voice came through the walkie talkie in Paul's pocket. "The entire team is in, Paul" he said, before taking a deep breath and saying something all of them already knew. "I can't watch you guys anymore. Be careful".

Paul slowly led the others through the damp basement corridor. They worked efficiently, with 2 people entering each room and staking it out, while 2 others waited outside. Paul looked and couldn't help but feel a hint of pride as his trainees carried out their job to perfection. "I could've used soldiers like these" he thought wistfully to himself. They kept going and found nothing of note, until they reached the end of the corridor.

At that point, the corridor turned sharply to the left and appeared to continue for hundreds of feet. Apart from a few rumbles of displeasure from Joe, who Paul shut up by staring at him, the team was completely loyal to their leader and appeared disciplined.

It was at this point that Paul signalled to Danny and Liz to go around the corner. Little did he realise that he had just made a terrible mistake. Just as the two went past the wall, there was a sudden rumble and a loud CLANGING sound echoed throughout the house. An iron wall emerged from the side of the corridor and slid out, blocking the path, separating the 2 groups completely.

Paul ran to the wall, but finding no way past it, tried to contact Rich through the walkie talkie. He took it out of his pocket. "Rich, call for f***ing help!" he exclaimed repeatedly, his confidence and self-control shattered. He knew there was no way the others could get out without help. Joe had backed up a bit from the shock of a wall suddenly popping up between him and his comrades. Images of the portrait and the room that led to the basement started flashing in his head, before he finally realised that the room they had used to get to the basement was the same on in the portrait and door with the red eyes was the one they had just gone through. Before he could regain his composure however, Joe saw something which no one in their right minds would ever believe. Out of one of the rooms which they had just searched, something suddenly emerged and rushed towards Joe.

Paul turned to see a horrible shadow covering Joe from head to foot, surrounding him in further darkness. Paul didn't know what to do. He backed up into the walls, when his hand swept past his right leg. He felt his pistol in his hand. Meanwhile, the shadow had completely engulfed Joe.

Paul felt himself overtaken by extreme fear and hatred for the thing which was terrorising his teammate. He was going to make sure it left Joe alone. He withdrew his pistol from the holster in an almost mechanical fashion and fired 3 shots, right where the shadow's chest would be, if it was human. The shadow suddenly dissipated. Paul stared intently at the scene. His shoulders drooped and he felt relief when the shadow left.

However, when he saw what had happened, tears flooded his eyes. When he fired his shots, all the rounds had gone right through the shadow. He had inadvertently shot Joe thrice. The cameraman lay motionless on the ground. Paul was oblivious to his surroundings and to the screams on the other side of the wall. The situation was too much for Paul to handle. He made a decision for which he normally would have beaten himself. He left Joe lying on the floor and ran straight to the exit.

Meanwhile, Rich looked on in horror as Danny and Liz's vital sign indicators seemed to suddenly get deactivated, while Joe's indicator clearly stated that he was now dead. Paul's pulse had suddenly jumped to 180. At this rate, he'd have a heart attack. Rich reached for his walkie talkie and started trying to communicate. "Paul, come in" he shouted repeatedly into the device.

"Dammit Paul, give me a response!" he exclaimed finally, before movement on one the screens caught his eye. Rich looked on in horror as Paul emerged from the basement, with an expression of pure terror on his face. He was clearly visible through the camera which had been placed by the basement entrance. Suddenly, the camera flew off the wall and appeared to knock Paul out. The camera lost focus for a moment. A second later, it started filming again, now showing Paul's motionless form being dragged slowly into the basement.

A sudden sound nearly scared Rich half to death. It was a ring tone on a satellite phone. Rich didn't even need to ask. He knew who was calling. He took a deep breath before answering the phone. "Where the f*ck have you sent us?" he whispered threateningly into the phone.

Before the caller could respond, Rich started shouting almost incoherently. "They're dying inside! Send help!" he hollered into the phone. Someone gave a response. However, Rich wasn't interested in the call anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the back door of the house burst open and Something emerged from its inside.

This was too much for even the most experienced ghost hunters to handle. Rich shut the back door of the SUV and dove into the front. His hands were shaking too much for him to even grab the keys properly. He checked out his rear view mirror.

The apparition was getting closer. His hand finally found the keys and, pressing his food hard on the clutch, he started the engine. It buzzed into life. Rich set the SUV into 1st gear and took off, snapping all the cables connected to the materials inside and without bothering to change into 2nd gear. The car emitted a horrid sound, as its revs count moved higher and higher. Rich couldn't care less. He just wanted to get away from that thing. He drove through the side of the hedge maze, cutting a new entrance and exit into the horrid thing, before putting the car into 2nd, then 3rd gear, hoping to get away. He turned towards the path at the front of the house and looked again at his rear view mirror and saw nothing. He emitted a sigh of relief. "At least I made it" he thought to himself. "I'll avenge the others later, but for now, at least I'm safe" he thought.

Rich sped up as he drove to the path, going at almost 40 miles an hour. Just as he neared the start of the path however, it became clear that the house simply wouldn't let him leave. Rich's eyes widened, as he saw something appear directly in front of him, blocking his escape route. A ghostly figure suddenly appeared in front of his car. The shock of seeing the figure standing in front of him and staring at him, with its cold, dead eyes, caused Rich to swerve away. The man was barely able to emit a scream before his car came to its resting place. His last minute swerve had sent him straight into one of the strongest trees in the area. The SUV was airbag equipped, so Rich probably would have survived the collision. However, the low branch which impaled him through the abdomen sealed his fate. Rich was slumped over the branch, which had just removed most of his innards. He managed to blink once, just before his eyes widened with terror, as something moved towards him.

All that could be heard was the rumbling from the car's engine and a voice on the satellite phone, repeating the lines, "Rich? What's going on?" over and over again.

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><p><strong>End of Chapter 1<strong>

**The Quests will soon be involved with this case, whether willingly or unwillingly. **

**What do you guys think so far, of the introduction?**

**Also, for those of you still waiting for the end of the City of Darkness, I'll try to get that finished soon, but I can't guarantee a date. Just got a bit bored with that story for the time being, but don't worry.**

**Thanks!**


	2. University Life

**A few hours ago, in one of the world's best universities …**

The room was completely silent. The clock showed a time of 6:59 p.m. and the second hand was slowly inching itself forwards, for what seemed like an eternity. Hundreds of young men and women sat in neat rows, frantically scratching away at their answer booklets, trying to fill as much information as they could, when suddenly, 2 dreaded words rang out through the hall.

"Time's up!" exclaimed one of the TAs.

"Put down your pens and stop writing!"

The room was filled with the sound of dozens of pens clattering onto the wooden desks, followed by several exhausted sighs and a few dry sobs. Everyone in the hall had got what they had expected. The professor had outdone himself; he created an exam paper almost twice as hard as the sample questions they'd been given.

As the papers were collected, most people gathered up their belongings and what was left of their dreams and quietly trudged out of the exam room. Some muttered vague threats and insults towards the professor as they left, while others accepted their fates and left without another look at the room or their papers. A third group gathered and started forming plans to occupy the exam room in protest, but they were soon ushered out.

Soon, only one person remained in the room. It was the same girl who had been daydreaming earlier. She was an attractive red headed student, a little over 5 and a half feet tall. She sat towards the front of her row and had a faraway look in her eyes. A few seconds later she snapped out of it, got up and walked out of the hall.

Meanwhile, outside the room, 2 young men stood talking. One of them looked like he could substitute for Hercules himself. He had short cropped blond hair and stood well over 6 feet tall, with huge, bulging muscles. His facial features, contradicted the rest of his appearance, making him look kind and caring.

In spite of his physical attributes however, his facial expression betrayed a sense of fear.

"I'm almost 100% sure I failed" he said worriedly to his friend. There was no response.

"Are you even listening, Jon?" he asked, sounding frustrated.

Jonny Quest stirred. He had been leaning against the wall, with an expression not much different from the girl in the exam hall. Jonny had changed quite a bit since his previous adventures. He was taller now, at just a shade over 6 feet tall, but had a wirier build as compared to his friend. His tired eyes suggested that he was on the verge of falling asleep. He straightened himself and folded his arms.

"Sorry Steve, I guess I nearly dozed off" he replied apologetically.

"I realised that" Steve said, looking his friend over. "So Quest, how did you find the exam?".

Jonny took a second to think about his answer. In truth, he had found the exam quite easy, but didn't want to brag about it.

"It was okay" he finally said, before quickly adding, "But it was much harder than the practice questions".

Steve nodded. He knew that Quest was one of the smartest guys in their lecture. If he said it was just "ok", it must have been a really hard exam. Steve felt somewhat relieved about this.

"So, got any plans for the evening?" Steve asked, regaining a bit of his confidence.

"Just meeting up with Jessie" he replied sleepily.

We'll grab a bite to eat and then pack for our flight back". Jonny's deep blue eyes were sunk into his skull. His normally bright face looked forlorn. Steve didn't need to ask what was wrong. He knew Jonny well enough to realise that Jonny was severely tired and even worse – he was bored.

Steve stood awkwardly for a few seconds, before looking at his watch. As he looked up, he saw someone emerge from another exam room exit. He looked towards her and gave a short wave of his hand.

"Alright man, I've got to go" he said. With that, Steve turned and started walking away. "By the way, happy holidays guys!" he called out before stepping out of the building.

Jonny stood by the door. "What's keeping Jessie?" he thought to himself, before leaning back against the wall and shutting his eyes for a second. "Maybe I should check out the exam hall" he thought to himself. Just as he opened his eyes to look for her, he noticed the red head from the exam room standing in front of him. Jessie giggled, as she saw her friend nearly drop asleep right before her eyes.

"Hey, Hotshot" she said softly.

Jonny quickly got off the wall and straightened himself. The last thing he needed was Jessie telling everyone at home about how he now gets most of sleep leaning on walls and pillars.

"Hey, Ace" he replied. His face brightened slightly and he finally felt awake again. "Come on, I'm starving" Jonny said, putting on his jacket. "Let's get out of here".

They walked out of the building into the biting cold weather. Light snowfall had just begun, giving the campus a somewhat relaxing atmosphere.

"So, how was the exam?" Jessie asked, as they walked through the campus grounds.

"Looked like a lot of people found the Intro to Organic Chemistry paper quite tough".

Jonny yawned again. "Intro to Organic Chemistry? My dad gave us enough of an introduction when we were 12."

Memories swelled back into their heads of Dr. Quest and their many past adventures. There was no question that the old man had taught them more than they could ever learn in their first few years of university. All those years of designing Quest World games and watching the doc and his friends' experiments was really paying off.

"I'm still going to beat you on the exam Quest. I always was the better student" Jessie said boastfully. 7 years of growing up still hadn't done much to weaken their rivalry.

"We'll see about that, Ace" he replied, grinning confidently.

Their brief stint of boredom momentarily forgotten, the two friends carried on their merry discussion all the way to the restaurant.

"So, I guess its back to the Compound for us tomorrow" Jonny said, as they were seated at a table.

"It's going to be good to see everybody after such a long time".

Jessie took a good look at her friend. It was only their 2nd year in University, but he had already changed considerably. Just a few months back, he was still the same old Jonny, always getting both of them into trouble and running off into new adventures, inadvertently dragging her along.

This year however, he was different. Physically, he looked like a taller, stronger version of his 14 year old self. He had the same blond hair, same deep blue eyes and the same lopsided facial expression he'd always had. Mentally, he was still pretty much the same guy, if not a slightly smarter and more mature version. But he seemed to have lost quite a bit of energy.

She realised of course, that the same could be said about her. She had also lost her old adventurous spirit. She often found herself sitting around, silently day dreaming about their past adventures like she had been doing after finishing her exam. Friends were always asking her about those days, when she'd be climbing mountains with her family and testing out new scientific equipment while they were busy fretting about SAT scores. Ever since she came to university however, that changed. Jessie now realised that it had been over 2 years since the Quest family's last proper adventure.

"By the way, Hadji can't make it this year" Jonny said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I know, he called me last night" she replied.

Hadji of course, had more important things to think about. The vast majority of universities around the world would pay to have a student like that helping with their research, but due to his mother's failing health, he had decided to remain in Bangalore and continue his studies there, while aiding his mother with the country's affairs, when necessary. It appears that he had a bit too much on his hands at this time of the year to come and visit.

"I guess he won't be around to see me thrash you in Quest World again!" she said playfully, and waited for a response. None came.

Jessie was surprised. Usually Jonny's response to her barbed comments was swift. She looked towards him and saw that although he had been talking to her a few moments ago, he was now lost in thought. In fact, he almost appeared to doze off.

"Jonny … Jonny… Quest, snap out of it!" she said, shaking his arm to try to wake him up.

"Since when did you even get this tired, Quest?" she asked, somewhat annoyed at him.

Jonny blinked a few times, just to make sure he was actually awake before responding.

"It's not that I'm tired Jess, I've just been bored. Anything I've done over the past 1 and a half years has nothing on the stuff we went through a few years back".

Jessie found herself involuntarily nodding. She didn't want to admit it, but Jonny was right. University parties and clubs, while fun for a while, had soon lost their appeal to both, Jonny and Jessie. After years spent chasing monsters and fighting mad scientists in virtual worlds, university life quickly lost its appeal to them.

They tried to keep making it interesting – both were on almost all sports teams available and were excelling at studies, but as compared to life with Dr. Quest and Race Bannon, this was just plain boring.

"I know, Jonny" she replied solemnly. "But maybe your dad has something planned for the holidays!" she said, trying to lift the mood, although she pretty much knew what he would say.

"Come on, Jess. You know as well as I do that dad's too old for those trips. The years are starting to catch up with Race too" he added.

Jessie knew he was right. Dr. Quest, although still quite fit for someone his age, couldn't handle many of the physical hardships of say, a week of exploration in the Amazon, or a hike in the Sahara, otherwise known as the usual Quest family holidays. Race was still the same imposing figure that he always was, but at almost 50, while he was still perfectly capable of defending himself with ease, he couldn't take care of everyone in the Quest family anymore.

"I guess we'll be adventureless for yet another holiday" said Jessie, in a defeated tone. She put her arms on the table and rested her head on them, on the one hand glad to be heading back home, while on the other hand, wishing that they could have just one more great journey, like so many that they'd had before.

Suddenly however, she was hit by another idea. Something which she had barely considered the day before.

"Jonny, you remember Emily Ferguson, the girl who dropped out last year?" she said, with a slight flicker of light in her eyes.

"You mean Prof. Ferguson's daughter?" he asked Jessie, now starting to sound a little interested.

He knew Emily well. Emily considered herself a thrill seeker, someone who wants to discover the limits of the human mind and body. In this regard, Jonny and Jessie considered her somewhat similar to themselves, but that's pretty much where the similarities ended.

The Quests went on most of their adventures to rediscover ancient artifacts and to learn more about the world and how humanity could benefit from it.

Emily went on her adventures for an adrenaline rush.

She was by no means a bad person, but what Jonny and Jessie found disturbing about her was that she was even more reckless than Jonny when he was 14, and twice as cocky. She was so cocky in fact that despite being one of the best students in most of her lectures, she had dropped out after first year, claiming that University was "too easy" for her and that she had nothing left to learn and would strike out on her own. The Quests could only imagine how hard the girl's father, who was one of their professors in the first year, must have taken in.

Jessie nodded her head to acknowledge that they were indeed talking about the same Emily.

Emily considered herself to have quite a bit in common with Jonny and Jessie. However, the differences between them soon overshadowed the similarities and Emily grew apart from Jonny and Jessie.

"She called me yesterday" Jessie continued. "Said something about a big scientific trip she's planned over the holidays and said we might be interested".

Jonny leaned forward. Jessie could tell he was interested.

"What's this trip about?" he asked, a hint of excitement apparent in his voice.

"She hasn't told me yet, but she says she'll let us know over the holidays" replied Jessie.

"But don't build your hopes up too much, Jonny" she added.

"You know Emily's "adventures" aren't anything like our good old times".

Jonny shrugged his shoulders. "Jess, if it's anything _remotely similar _to our trips with Dad, Race and Hadji, I'm all up for it".

Jessie started feeling as if it were a bad idea to have revealed this news to her friend. "Jonny, maybe it's best if we just forget it" she said, cautiously. "Anything Emily tried to do for fun _always_ ended in trouble".

"Come on Jess, what's the worst that could happen?" Jonny said, leaning back on his chair and placing his hands behind his head. His old cockiness, which they both thought was lost to time, began re-emerging right before their eyes.

"Jonny, be reasonable" Jessie said.

"We should at least wait until we know what she's planned before confirming anything" she added, however, from the look in Jonny's eyes, she knew that even if the trip sounded remotely adventurous, he'd be on the bandwagon in a flash.

"Alright Jess, you win" he said, although it didn't look like he meant it. As far as Jonny was concerned, Jessie was merely delaying the inevitable. He wanted to see his dad and Race and spend some time with them, however, passing up the chance for just one more adventure, something to give him a feel of his old life, was just something he couldn't bear.

"Listen up, Quest" said Jessie. There was a hint of frustration in her voice. "If you decide to go on this trip, you're going to have to go alone". She felt she made her point clear enough. She was now seriously regretting telling him about Emily's call. Couldn't Jonny see that the best case scenario of joining Emily was that they get a short thrill, which would be nothing compared to their escapades in the past and the worst case was that they could get seriously hurt in some kind of botched adrenaline fuelled event?

Unfortunately, Jonny wasn't thinking along those lines. He wanted one, just one more chance to be _Jonny Quest, the Adventurer _just like in the past, before graduating university. And he knew Jessie well enough to know that she also wanted some more adventure. Living life like a normal kid, even in one of the world's top 10 universities, was nothing compared to what they were used to and this was a chance to have one last hurrah, a final stand while still in university, before they graduate and don't have enough time for adventure, or even worse, before they lose the will to explore altogether.

"Jess" he said, leaning in towards her and holding her hand.

"We both know what always happens. I run headfirst into some kind of problem, you try to stop me, but in the end we always end up facing things together, even when you say you won't follow me. Both of us need this chance to just have some fun. And who knows, we might actually find something interesting. Just like the old days".

Jessie looked into her best friend's eyes and sighed. She knew he was right. Even if she said she wouldn't come, she'd end up following him one way or another to keep an eye on him, just as he'd do the same for her. It was practically an unwritten law of their friendship.

"Jonny, it's not like the old days" Jessie said solemnly.

"Back then, when we got into trouble, we had Dad and Dr. Quest and Hadji to lend us a hand. They won't be there this time. Besides, can you imagine how Dad and Dr. Quest would feel if we hightailed it halfway through the holidays, just to go on a trip with Emily and a bunch of people we barely know?" – She was trying her best to reason with him and this was the last card left to play in her hand. Jessie knew how much Jonny valued his family and spending time with what was left of it. Hopefully this would snap him out it.

Her tactic was successful. Jonny was in two minds. A small voice in his head started speaking to him.

"Just go on the trip Jonny, Race and Dad will manage one holiday alone. Besides, Jessie always winds up following you at the end, she won't let you go alone".

However, another voice spoke up, "Don't listen, Jonny. You know Jessie's right. Dad and Race are the last remaining close family you have, apart from Jessie and Hadji. You can't abandon them halfway through the Christmas Holidays, just to go join some random thrill seeker."

Jonny identified the first voice as his younger side and the second voice as his older persona. And as much as he wanted to be adventurous just one more time, he knew that his older persona now dominated the part of his being that still felt like his young self.

As a child, he thought he'd never change. He still felt like the same person, but now better understood the responsibilities resting on his shoulders as Dr. Quest's son and as an adult.

Jonny looked up at the ceiling. "Damn you, maturity" he muttered softly, before facing Jess again.

"Alright Jess, you win" he said in a defeated tone.

"Thanks for listening to me, Jonny" she replied. Jessie was pleasantly surprised. She had never seen her friend back down from any chance of adventure before, apart from a few cases which even Jonny's juvenile self knew he couldn't handle.

"Maybe this new found maturity he always talks about is an actual real thing" she thought to herself. However, a part of her also felt saddened by the fact that they had both backed down. She had somewhat expected to convince herself to ignore Emily's invitation, but somewhere deep inside herself, Jessie actually wanted Jonny to be defiant, just so that his defiance could rub onto her and they could both make the trip.

As she looked at her defeated friend however, she knew that they'd both never be the same carefree kids again. But at least they had their families and they still had each other. Not to mention, there was a bright side of going back home as well.

"Bet you won't beat any of my Quest World high scores this time, Hotshot" she said, trying to change the subject.

Her ploy had succeeded. Jonny's eyes lit up. "We'll see about that, Ace" he said confidently. His classic grin was back up on his face, as they looked towards each other.

"At least some things never change" both of them thought to themselves.

They carried on throughout dinner, comparing various stats and records and got down to talking about other reasons why it'd be good to go back home.

A while later, they were out of the restaurant, walking back towards their residences...

**Meanwhile, there was some activity at the old mansion…**

His eyes flickered open as they tried to catch any light available in the vicinity. His head hurt severely, almost as if he had been thrown with extreme force into a brick wall. Slowly, Danny started to stir. As his pupils widened to catch any light nearby, his blurry vision finally started to clear, ever so slightly.

He was still trying to remember what had happened earlier. He raised his head slightly and could now see his hands and feet in front of him, there didn't appear to be any sign of injury on his body, apart from his aching skull.

His head was throbbing heavily and seemed like it was swelling severely, he felt like he'd been out for days and had just woken up from a coma – but whatever happened, at least he was alive.

"Time to get up" he thought to himself, as he attempted to raise his strong arms and lift himself up – but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift his arms.

Danny was now starting to panic – "Have I broken both my arms?" he thought, as his heart rate started to increase drastically.

He decided to sit up, to get himself in a position to better examine his arms and hopefully stand up. This would be easy for Danny. He was after all the strongest man in his group. Paul may have been the best fighter, but if any feats of physical strength were required, Danny would be the first one they would turn to.

Danny tried to use his immense chest muscles to force his upper body up. He gave a sudden push – but his body didn't respond.

Danny was terrified and as he tried again and again to force up some part of his body, several damning thoughts passed through his mind.

"Am I paralyzed?" he thought repeatedly, as his body continuously failed to respond.

"But I can still move my head" he thought, quickly ruling out that scenario.

"Is this some form of sleep paralysis?" he thought, as the throbbing in his head worsened. Danny's struggling was making to difference. He was completely and absolutely helpless, there was nothing he could do but turn and twist his neck.

Suddenly, a soft, ice cold breeze went past Danny's left ear. He stopped struggling.

The wind almost seemed to cause some form of déjà vu, as Danny's memories started flooding back to him.

He remembered when he first felt such a sensation. He had felt a similar phenomenon on his face when the team had first entered the ancient mansion they were supposed to have been investigating. He had felt the exact same occurrence when the first teammate, Amy had disappeared and he had felt the exact same cold breeze when he and Liz had been separated from the others, in the basement.

Danny stopped struggling. He had no idea what this thing was that had been causing him so much suffering, but whatever it was, surely it mustn't have been able to take out every single member on the team – Paul was one of the toughest guys he had ever met. Even Joe, Liz and Amy, despite their utter uselessness in Danny's eyes, must be able to help him get out. Obviously Rich must have called for help by now.

Maybe if I call out to them they might hear me, Danny thought hopefully. He had never been a religious man, but still decided to say a small prayer. Anything was worth a shot at this point.

Danny then opened his mouth, hoping that he would be able to call for help.

His lips were dry and his voice hoarse, but somehow, he managed to force a loud scream out of his mouth.

His voice echoed through the place where he was held, but there was no response. He knew that if no one could get to him, he'd soon die.

**What do you guys think so far? The last part, about Danny's thoughts is supposed to be the intro to the next chapter, but haven't been able to work on that yet. Sorry of you found Jessie and Jonny's intros to be a bit boring, it'll get a lot more exciting for them soon...**


	3. Danny's End

His voice echoed through the place where he was held.

He could hear the echo of his voice travel for what seemed like miles. He waited anxiously, hoping, praying for a response to come from anyone. It didn't matter who it came from or how far they were, Danny was already in a state of panic and just wanted to know that he wasn't alone.

He had waited for minutes, but it seemed like hours. He didn't hear anything, except for the echo of his own voice, travelling further and further, before finally dissipating in the dark nothingness that lay before him.

"How could this be happening to me?" he thought frantically.

"Who could be behind all this and where is everybody?" he thought, as he took a deep breath of sharp, cold air.

"Help!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Help!" he screamed again, and again, not waiting for a response. He didn't care how much he screamed or who heard him, as long as someone heard him.

Danny kept on screaming continuously, until he sensed something. He could hear slight movement, just a few feet away from his head.

This did not seem good and whatever it was, Danny was sure it wanted him dead. He tried repeatedly to force himself up, grunting loudly as his body pulled and tugged on its bonds, continuously scratching what was left of his limbs.

Then, he heard a voice.

"Danny?" he heard someone say. It was a female voice, and even though it was slurred, he recognised it.

He stopped struggling for a second.

"Liz!" he exclaimed, releasing a breath that he didn't even realise he was holding.

Liz struggled to get up. She wasn't being held like Danny and managed to crawl to his prone figure on the floor.

"What's going on?" she whispered, one hand gripping her own forehead, the other now on Danny's shoulder. She shuddered when she felt how cold Danny and the place they were in were. It was chilly winter night, but it still felt much colder in the room that it did when they were outside.

"Let's get out of here, she said, looking around as the events of the night came flooding back into her head.

Danny looked towards her, with an unmistakable glint of fear in his eyes.

"I can't move anything" Danny whimpered, as he tried to struggle up one last time, before giving up all together.

Liz saw the shackles. "Who could have done this to the team?" she thought, as checked them to see if there were any weak points. "Whoever it is, I hope Paul finds them and puts a bullet in their head" she muttered angrily. She found keyholes on the shackles.

"Stay calm" she says to Danny. "I'll be right here, looking for the keys to get you out of these things.

"Alright" Danny said softly. It's not like he had a choice.

She slowly rose, taking note of their surroundings. It was pretty dark and she had no idea where they were. The only light appeared to be coming from a doorway that seemed like it was miles away. The cold, stale air suggested they might be underground, probably deeper inside the tunnels.

She brushed the floor with her hands, hoping to find something of use, when she remembered that she kept a small emergency flashlight in her jacket pocket. Silently hoping it was still there, she reached in and after feeling the aluminium instrument, pulled it out and turned it on.

"This should make it easier to find my way" she thought, and she was probably right. Unfortunately, the light also made it easier for her to attract unwanted attention.

As soon as she stood upright, she was met with a crushing blow, cold steel cutting through her skin and smashing her jaw to pieces. She stumbled back and fell unconscious, her skull bouncing off the floor. Danny could see her from the corner of his eye and felt his heart drop, as she fell with a sickening crunch, her skull smashing against a rock on the floor and now oozing red liquid.

He was still in shock for a few seconds and didn't notice a large figure walk up to him and stand at his side.

Danny turned towards the figure.

"Who are you?" he yelled loudly, followed by more struggling against the chains and shackles holding him down.

Meanwhile, Liz's flashlight, which had been knocked out of her hand, finally came to a stop and shone light on the face of her assailant.

Danny stared at the figure in disbelief.

"Paul?" he whispered, staring right into the eyes of the man he had considered one of his closest comrades.

In his hand, Paul held his trusty M1911 pistol, which had blood dripping off its handle. There was no doubt in Danny's mind that this is what had struck Liz.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, dammit?" Danny yelled at the man.

Paul's face had a vacant expression. His mouth was slightly open, but his eyes looked different. He looked desperate, like a lunatic on the run from the asylum.

Danny's own eyes widened when he realised this.

"What happened to you man?" he asked. "Snap out of it! We need to help Liz!".

Suddenly, Danny felt the air grow much colder. He started shivering violently, as he noticed another light moving into the room.

Then, he heard a voice that made his blood freeze.

"He can't understand you, Danny" it said, menacingly, almost mocking him.

"He belongs to us now!" it said.

Danny's head felt like he was spinning. He wanted to throw up. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't speak or scream at Paul to make this stop.

Not that it mattered. Paul had no control over this.

"I'm sorry, Danny" the older man said, with tears in his eyes.

"No one can know what I've done here. It took me a long time to accept this, but no one can leave this place" he said, his voice slurring almost as if he was drunk, or possessed by something

He aimed his pistol at Danny's head, before an arm reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Don't shoot him" a gentle voice said to Paul.

Danny turned towards it. It came from a young girl who stood next to Paul. She was practically transparent. Danny realised that this was his first actual ghost sighting – and it might be saving his life!

But the spirit's intentions soon became clear.

"Don't waste bullets on his" she said. "Finish him off another way" the girl added, a big grin on her face, as she slowly faded away.

Paul nodded and holstered his weapon.

He lifted up his boot above Danny's face.

"I'm sorry, boy" he said solemnly. "But it's a rule of this place. THEY explained it to me. No one can live" he said, before bringing his foot crashing down over Danny's skull….


	4. Return to the Homestead

**"Snap out of it!".**

That was the last thing he heard. He felt a light tug on his shoulder and his body responded accordingly. His muscles tensed and his eyes burst open to glare at his attacker, but when he saw who woke him, he quickly stopped himself from continuing with his aggression.

"We're nearly there, Jonny" Jessie said, looking much perkier and excited than she had earlier that day. It was something about finally getting to see her father and Dr. Quest that caused her entire system to jerk itself awake; not to mention, jerk Jonny awake too.

Jonny rubbed his eyes. He had only been asleep for a few minutes, but this was a first. Normally he was too restless to sleep on planes, but it seemed as if time had changed the man.

He looked out of the window of the small Quest Enterprises jet, before turning to his friend next to him and smiled. She suddenly seemed so packed with energy and full of life. It was almost like the good old days…

Well, not entirely like them. For one thing, Race would normally have picked them up in the Dragonfly, but with the plane in for repairs and Dr. Quest's frenzied attempt to finish off as much work as possible before the holidays started, both men were too busy to make their way to pick up the kids themselves.

Soon, the plane touched down and Jonny and Jessie disembarked with their stuff. They had barely made their way out of the airport when a pair of strong hands wrapped themselves around Jessie in a death grip.

"Dad!" she laughed, as Race Bannon hoisted his daughter off the ground with barely any effort at all. Jonny smiled as the man released his daughter and pulled him into a massive hug as well. Race Bannon was the fittest man Jonny had ever seen, but the years had taken a bit of a toll.

The last few years had been especially quiet, with Rage, Surd and Zin finally leaving the Quests at peace and as a result, Race had been a lot calmer and more relaxed for a while. His waist had expanded a little bit since Jonny last saw him, not to mention some slightly noticeable hair and muscle loss, but Race was still a physical specimen to behold.

The three of them started walking to the car, already lost in conversation, when they were stopped abruptly.

"Ahem" someone said loudly, behind them. "Aren't you guys forgetting something"?

Jonny turned around and saw something emerge from behind a wall that made his mouth drop open into the widest smile he'd ever given. "Dad!" he said loudly, running to the old man and embracing him.

Race laughed out loud, as Jessie ran to Doctor Benton Quest. "We were wondering how long it'd take you guys to notice something was up".

Jonny took note of how much his father had aged. Considering how little field work he did nowadays, Benton didn't bother maintaining his fitness to its previous level. He was thinner and had some deep lines on his forehead. Much of the red hair had been replace with specks of grey, but the gentle expression on his face and his calm, confident manner were much the same as they always were. The happy family got into the vehicle and drove back home.

After a fabulous dinner that Mrs. Hudson has stayed over to prepare and a long family conversation about the past few months, with Hadji taking the time to join in courtesy of Skype, the house eventually went quiet and everyone went to sleep.

That conversation Jessie had with Emily was almost forgotten, until a certain someone paid them a surprise visit the next day…

**11 a.m, the next day**

It was a fine winter day at the compound. The air was crisp and clear and everything was calm. Dr. Quest lounged comfortably in a large sofa in the living room, going through a large stack of newspapers. "Everything might be online now, but old habits die hard" he thought to himself, as he sat there quite happy, with a hot mug of coffee on the table next to him.

His rush to complete all required work before the holidays was successful and he could finally relax.

"I wouldn't mind doing something a bit more physical, but I guess my days of running around, saving the world are done". Meanwhile, Race Bannon lay inside the garage, underneath a giant lump of metal, as he carried out repair work on his much beloved car. Normally it'd just be easier to take it to the repair shop, but he decided that putting it back together himself would be a nice way to relax after a hard week's work.

"I wonder where the kids are?" he thought to himself.

His question was soon answered. All he heard was Bandit's bark, someone shout "Jonny, no!" and a loud crash, along with the sound of glass breaking.

Race took a deep breath and pulled himself out from under the car and saw a sight that left him somewhat annoyed, and yet, mildly impressed. There was a large, man sized dent in the garage door, along with a hover board sized hole underneath it. What he saw next caused him to sigh deeply, before muttering continuously under his breath.

The hover board had gone straight into the back of his car, bounced off the trunk after breaking a taillight, shattered the rear window and had decapitated the driver's seat before embedding itself in the wind shield.

Race heard movement coming from outside and peered through the new hole in the garage door. He saw a young blond man, rubbing his head and sheepishly looking back.

"Sorry Race!" he said earnestly.

Race sighed again. It's a wonder that kid's still alive, he thought to himself. He opened the door and went outside, to find Jessie catching up to Jonny on her own hover board, laughing her head off.

"I told you, you need more practice on that thing Hotshot!" she said, stopping next to him. She was laughing so hard, she was having trouble keeping her balance.

Jessie enjoyed herself quite a bit, laughing at Jonny. She was having so much fun in fact, that she accidentally started her own board. It flew out of her hands, knocking her down onto her back and went straight towards the manor.

Race glared at her. Jonny smirked. They turned back to the building to see a window shattering and heard some of the filthiest swear words they had ever heard in their lives.

"I've never heard Dr. Quest talk like that" Jessie said, her voice barely a whisper.

"That's because what you hear isn't Dr. Quest" Race replied, knowingly.

Just then, the front door burst open and the source of the colourful language emerged. Mrs. Evans half walked, half jogged towards Race, to complain about a nefarious board shaped machine that tried to assault her in the dining room.

She then described how, after getting over her initial hysteria, she beat the beast to death with a vacuum cleaner and immediately reported outside.

Jessie frowned upon hearing that her beloved board was destroyed, while Jonny was still busy trying to pry his out of the windshield of the car. Race gave Mrs. Evans the rest of the week off to recuperate and sighed.

This was going to be a long holiday…

**New characters will be introduced in the next chapter. Sorry about the long time till this update. I've just been very busy with work for quite a while now. **

**As for my other story that's unfinished, I hope to continue it someday, but I can't guarantee that that will be soon. **

**Thanks for following!**


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